# Venus Throw

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{{for|the historical novel by Steven Saylor|The Venus Throw}}
{{Short description|Highest roll in the Ancient Roman gambling game of tali}}

The '''Venus Throw''' was the highest roll in the [Ancient Roman](/source/Ancient_Rome) gambling game of ''tali'' ([knucklebones](/source/knucklebones)). The game was played with four 4-sided rectangular dice numbered I, III, IV and VI, usually made from sheep's or goat's knucklebones.  In a Venus Throw, each ''talus''  landed on a different side, yielding as a score of 14.  A gambler would either throw the ''tali'' from his or her hand, or from a small box, (called a ''fritillus'').  Thirty-five different throws were possible (found by sending 4 and 4 to the [combination with repetitions](/source/combination_with_repetitions) formula).  While the Venus throw was the highest, the Vulture throw (all aces)—also known as the Dog throw —was the lowest.{{clarify|reason=need more clarity on scoring. I,I,I,I is the lowest, so why is I,III,IV,VI the highest and not VI,VI,VI,VI? how do the other combinations compare?|date=September 2025}}  The Venus throw could be used to designate the master of the revels.

==References==
* Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, p. 1095 {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20051109082347/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-dgra/1102.html]}}
* Charlton T. Lewis; Charles Short A Latin Dictionary, p. 782
{{Dice-game-stub}}
Category:Culture of ancient Rome
Category:Gambling terminology

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Venus Throw](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Throw) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_Throw?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.